Need help, what is this??

Hi everyone, so I got my albino male Tuesday morning, and got him set up in his tub.

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/s...g?t=1249739838

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/s...g?t=1249739896

I got him set up in his tub with newspaper to start out, but my humidity gauge was saying my humidity was too low, so I went out and got some repti-bark to help bring the humidity up. Since then I have tried to pretty much leave him alone so he can get settled in. Then last night when I got home from work I went in just to look and see how he was doing and saw a dark spot on his mouth through the tub so I decided to pull him out and take a closer look. This is what it looks like.

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/s...g?t=1249740051

At first I thought maybe he just had some dust from the repti-bark stuck to his nose, but I am not sure. I have heat tape with a Helix t-stat to regulate the warm side of the tub so I know he couldn't have burned himself. It almost looks like maybe he has been rubbing against something and the dust from the substrate is stuck to it. He doesn't seem to be sensitive to touch, but it doesn't rub off easily either (of course he doesn't like having his head messed with like many BPs). Can anyone shed some light on this? Any ideas at all? Is this something that I should be making a trip to the vet? Have never had anything like this happen so just not sure. Any ideas would be much appreciated. I have only had him since Tuesday the 4th. Thanks

Joel

It looks to be the same color as the faded glory box to me. My guess is thats where it came from. But Im no snake doctor ;)

I actually took that box out the first day, it was just temporary until I could get something better. So it was out before this appeared.

I am taking the repti-bark out and going to put newspaper back down, and then try to clean the area with a Q-tip and then see what it looks like. This will be fun.

It definitely looks like reptibark dirt. Try to clean it off. I would guess it will come off. Keep us updated!

It doesn't look all that much like Mouth Rot or anything.

Is it just me though or does it's nose/front of mouth look swollen?

poor fella didnt crap and slither with his face right into it did he? lol :D it happens

No it's not poo. I took a Q-tip and tried to clean it and some of it came off. I think what happened is he rubbed against something enough to bleed and some of the bark stuck to it. It definitely looks somewhat swollen. I cleaned it the best I could and put some triple antibiotic on it. I also removed the repti-bark and went back to newspaper. Hopefully it will be looking better in a couple of days and maybe with a few sheds he'll be looking more like himself?

That's what I think happened anyway. I'll keep you posted on his progress. Thanks

Is there any blood anywhere in the tub? I noticed the tub is not completely smooth on the inside. I would say he could have definitely rubbed his nose on one of those edges looking for an escape route.

I have never used tubs, but I would think you would want to find one that didn't have a lot of plastic "supports" and edges on the inside.

Later,

George